2021 Offseason Thread

[The_People1]

4 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

I watched most of his games in the AHL last year and he was really streaky offensively, and he has a long way to go defensively. His game isn't near ready for Sutter hockey. He still needs time in the AHL.

 

No kid is ever 110% ready.  You have to play them and accept the growing pains.

[JTech780]

5 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

No kid is ever 110% ready.  You have to play them and accept the growing pains.

 

I just don't think he is even 50% ready. And quite honestly if he can't beat out Lewis or Richardson for a job, that just tells how far away he is.

[sak22]

21 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

Lewis and Richardson surely would've retired if we didn't sign them though.  Borderline NHLers... I think Derek Ryan at $800k would have been a better signing.  He has proven PK abilities if that's what we were looking for.  I hope Richardson is not going to be the next Nordstrom.  

Was that an option, not sure he was taking 800k to stay over 1.25m to leave.

[The_People1]

12 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

I just don't think he is even 50% ready. And quite honestly if he can't beat out Lewis or Richardson for a job, that just tells how far away he is.

 

Can 35+ contract be buried if needed?  I think full cap hit applies right?

[The_People1]

8 minutes ago, sak22 said:

Was that an option, not sure he was taking 800k to stay over 1.25m to leave.

 

Sorry $1.25mil.

 

Still though.  Ryan is much better at what he does... just doesn't hit and has no grit.

[cross16]

Age is not relevant for putting contracts in the AHL, it's about dollar amount. Any thing below 1.075 you get full cap relief, and anything above that number stays on your cap. 

 

Richardson, while his numbers are not pretty is still a solid NHLer so I don't agree this is a case of he is retiring without the Flames calling. Lewis you could maybe make that call but both still bring positive attributes to the table. 

 

I agree with Jtech, make Ruzicka beat these guys out. I'm still not sold that Ruzicka deserves as much praise as he gets around here, i'm not that high on him, but the job is still there is he proves me wrong. 

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

5 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Age is not relevant for putting contracts in the AHL, it's about dollar amount. Any thing below 1.075 you get full cap relief, and anything above that number stays on your cap. 

 

Richardson, while his numbers are not pretty is still a solid NHLer so I don't agree this is a case of he is retiring without the Flames calling. Lewis you could maybe make that call but both still bring positive attributes to the table. 

 

I agree with Jtech, make Ruzicka beat these guys out. I'm still not sold that Ruzicka deserves as much praise as he gets around here, i'm not that high on him, but the job is still there is he proves me wrong. 

Historically when one of these "character players" got signed I worried that the up and comers get pushed to the wayside.  With previous coached that may have been true but at least with Sutter everyone knows what you'll need to do to make an impression. True that there are some in Stockton that aren't built for that type of game if players like JH and Mangi can flourish under Sutter than theres something to battle for.

[jjgallow]

44 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

No kid is ever 110% ready.  You have to play them and accept the growing pains.

 

37 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

I just don't think he is even 50% ready. And quite honestly if he can't beat out Lewis or Richardson for a job, that just tells how far away he is.

 

You're both 100% right lol.

 

Bringing in Richardson is a desperation move which shows a complete lack of faith in the pipeline AKA Ruzicka etc.

 

Ruzicka's not going to blossom with another year in the Stockton, he will be placed behind several other LHS forwards coming to Stockton this year (because we only draft LHS forwards) and we will never hear from him again.

 

Is it a good plan?   no.

 

Is Ruzicka ready?   Actually no he's not.  

 

Could Ruzicka be ready in the future?   Not in this organization with the way we do things and distribute our assets/prospects.   In another organization, yeah.  Yeah of course he could make the transition to the NHL with another year of development imho.   He's 6'4 and skilled, of course he can.

 

Will we act on that, make a trade, move things around so we get full value for our assets?   Give them a real chance?  We absolutely will not no. that's a hard no.

 

Will we need to rebuild?    No.  We already are.

[conundrumed]

1 hour ago, The_People1 said:

 

Lewis and Richardson surely would've retired if we didn't sign them though.  Borderline NHLers... I think Derek Ryan at $800k would have been a better signing.  He has proven PK abilities if that's what we were looking for.  I hope Richardson is not going to be the next Nordstrom.  

Speaking of borderline NHLers, soft Derek Ryan epitomized our bottom 6. Now that was a bad signing....Peters.

[The_People1]

23 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Age is not relevant for putting contracts in the AHL, it's about dollar amount. Any thing below 1.075 you get full cap relief, and anything above that number stays on your cap. 

 

Richardson, while his numbers are not pretty is still a solid NHLer so I don't agree this is a case of he is retiring without the Flames calling. Lewis you could maybe make that call but both still bring positive attributes to the table. 

 

I agree with Jtech, make Ruzicka beat these guys out. I'm still not sold that Ruzicka deserves as much praise as he gets around here, i'm not that high on him, but the job is still there is he proves me wrong. 

 

K thanks, I thought 35+ contracts will count towards the cap no matter what.

 

And this is not about Ruzicka per se.  It's about dangling the carrot for the kids in the farm.  They need to know if they work hard over the summer that there's always at least 1 spot up for grabs on the big club.

[The_People1]

4 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Speaking of borderline NHLers, soft Derek Ryan epitomized our bottom 6. Now that was a bad signing....Peters.

 

Oh for sures, I'm not saying I like Ryan in a Sutter system.  I'm saying "I'd rather".  I mean, if we were going that route to get a veteran 4th liner with some PK abilities, then Ryan is better than Richardson.

[cross16]

21 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

K thanks, I thought 35+ contracts will count towards the cap no matter what.

 

And this is not about Ruzicka per se.  It's about dangling the carrot for the kids in the farm.  They need to know if they work hard over the summer that there's always at least 1 spot up for grabs on the big club.

And for me I think this has been done well under Treliving. That culture should already exist IMO and these signings shouldn’t change that. 
 

But I also think if we’re being real, the guys in the AHL right now just arnt ready, minus maybe Phillips , and when it comes to the bottom 6 Sutter is going to lean on veterans. 

[kehatch]

I have been saying it all summer, but the Flames have been an average team for 7 seasons.  The transactions this off season haven't done enough to move the needle.  The only trump card that the Flames have is a full season under Daryl Sutter.  Nearly every transaction this summer has been about building a team for Sutter, and I am okay with that.  Between Coleman, Richardson, Lewis, Pitlick, and Zadarov this will be a much more 'Sutter like' team come October.  Keep em coming as far as I am concerned. 

 

I get the concerns with us filling depth spots with vets instead of youth.  But this is a fourth line guy on a 1-year minimum wage salary.  If he is preventing one of the kids from making the team then that player is probably better off in the AHL.  Gawdin and Ruzicka are the guys impacted by this and both are probably better off top 6 in the AHL instead of fourth line in the NHL.  They will get some games when there is an injury.  

 

Some will mention Phillips, but I don't see him making the team out of camp unless he is lights out. The guy is smaller then Gaudreau and hasn't cracked the PPG marker in the AHL.  He was good last season, but most of his points were early.  I like the prospect and he may be an NHLer as early as this season, but he needs to take another step in the AHL before he is in serious contention for an NHL spot, at least in my opinion.  If he is lights out at camp then Richardson isn't going to keep him from making the team.  

[robrob74]

13 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

In some ways I can't really blame Lucic.  

He is a paid fighter that gets his knuckles beat up on a guy's helmet.

Must be tiring.

The game in question was a frustrating loss, but some of the guys were okay and just skated off.

Matty decided an insult is an insult.Flew off the handle.

Gio was the guy on the ice that didn't press it.

 

Lucic is a proud guy, so I think he hates more that players give up than anything else.

He will go to war if it's worth it.

Gio, at times, was more concerned about leaving and moving on.

 

I hope they decide as a group to fight to the end in every game.

Sutter seemed to bring that mentality to the team.

They played the final games like they were in the playoff race.

I want that.

I hated the result, but whatever.

It's what you want your team to do, play at or above their level not below.

F the draft pick.

If we deserve a lotto pick we get one, otherwise gve us 13th.

 

this is what I see in Gio all the time. He’s just too ok with losing. Ok he gives it his all, but as a leader you gotta expect more out of the teammates and he just doesn’t do that. He speaks a good “shoulda woulda and could do next time” game. But that’s what nhlers do, they’re trained to be diplomatic and say the right thing. I just rolled my eyes when he talked the last 3 years. 
 

the team needs guys that try. I will agree that he did and did care, but as a leader I don’t agree with his way of leading. 

[conundrumed]

5 hours ago, kehatch said:

I have been saying it all summer, but the Flames have been an average team for 7 seasons.  The transactions this off season haven't done enough to move the needle.  The only trump card that the Flames have is a full season under Daryl Sutter.  Nearly every transaction this summer has been about building a team for Sutter, and I am okay with that.  Between Coleman, Richardson, Lewis, Pitlick, and Zadarov this will be a much more 'Sutter like' team come October.  Keep em coming as far as I am concerned. 

 

I get the concerns with us filling depth spots with vets instead of youth.  But this is a fourth line guy on a 1-year minimum wage salary.  If he is preventing one of the kids from making the team then that player is probably better off in the AHL.  Gawdin and Ruzicka are the guys impacted by this and both are probably better off top 6 in the AHL instead of fourth line in the NHL.  They will get some games when there is an injury.  

 

Some will mention Phillips, but I don't see him making the team out of camp unless he is lights out. The guy is smaller then Gaudreau and hasn't cracked the PPG marker in the AHL.  He was good last season, but most of his points were early.  I like the prospect and he may be an NHLer as early as this season, but he needs to take another step in the AHL before he is in serious contention for an NHL spot, at least in my opinion.  If he is lights out at camp then Richardson isn't going to keep him from making the team.  

I’d argue if you wanna build from the net out, don’t skip over the bottom lines.

Has everyone forgotten our amazing UFA superstars of the past?
I like this path.

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

Apparently JG is close to signing an 8 year extension, just some small details to finalize.  This is according to someone on Reddit who has "a source within the organization".

 

No word on $$ but apparently this person has "broken" other Flames related news.

 

/Quotes added for sarcasm.

 

 

 

[cross16]

Rookie camp open this week, Thursday to be exact. Will have 2 games on September 18th and 20th. Roster is listed below. 

 

Reminder- NCAA players are not eligible to attend this camp. 

 

 

[jjgallow]

13 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Rookie camp open this week, Thursday to be exact. Will have 2 games on September 18th and 20th. Roster is listed below. 

 

Reminder- NCAA players are not eligible to attend this camp. 

 

 

 

Can anyone explain to me those two extra goaltenders on there, local Connor Ungar and Carter Serhyenko?

 

While I would have preferred some of our drafted picks in there, I am Never one to turn down a player tryout.  Is that what this is?

 

Ungar, a local, is interesting for many reasons, obviously his size keeps him out of the draft.    Carter seems to have had a bad year which amounts to just 10 games, could have been a million things including covid over just 10 games, otherwise he seemed to have a bright path.

I'm assuming there are a couple forwards and defense in there under similar pretense.

 

How does this work, and why can we not have more lol

[conundrumed]

41 minutes ago, jjgallow said:

 

Can anyone explain to me those two extra goaltenders on there, local Connor Ungar and Carter Serhyenko?

 

While I would have preferred some of our drafted picks in there, I am Never one to turn down a player tryout.  Is that what this is?

 

Ungar, a local, is interesting for many reasons, obviously his size keeps him out of the draft.    Carter seems to have had a bad year which amounts to just 10 games, could have been a million things including covid over just 10 games, otherwise he seemed to have a bright path.

I'm assuming there are a couple forwards and defense in there under similar pretense.

 

How does this work, and why can we not have more lol

Serhyenko is PA's goalie, with size. Poor showing last year kept him from being drafted.

[bosn111]

The goalies likely for the games and practices. One is going back to Red Deer. Without them, Wolf is the only prospect available in net. College players ineligible for the camp. Basically a way to see what they have without any commitment and backup for Wolf.

[conundrumed]

St. Louis has signed Bozak. $750,000 could be $2mil if bonuses are met.

If Tara isn't traded, how are they signing Thomas?

[travel_dude]

2 hours ago, conundrumed said:

St. Louis has signed Bozak. $750,000 could be $2mil if bonuses are met.

If Tara isn't traded, how are they signing Thomas?

 

We haven't heard the end of STL yet.

Thomas may be persona nongrata....

Tank isn;t going to get traded and there is no real way out.

Line up your trade suggestions.

We can do it.

[conundrumed]

On 9/14/2021 at 3:52 PM, travel_dude said:

 

We haven't heard the end of STL yet.

Thomas may be persona nongrata....

Tank isn;t going to get traded and there is no real way out.

Line up your trade suggestions.

We can do it.

A $4.1 offer sheet. Only costs a 2nd. Better #s than Kyrou (especially D), RSC, played a big role in their SC, makes us better, hard to play against...what are we waiting for? Honestly can't believe Army has let it go this far, but I'm sure he'll figure it out.

[jjgallow]

33 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

A $4.1 offer sheet. Only costs a 2nd. Better #s than Kyrou (especially D), RSC, played a big role in their SC, makes us better, hard to play against...what are we waiting for? Honestly can't believe Army has let it go this far, but I'm sure he'll figure it out.

 

I would do it.   But I wouldn't do it with excitement.   This is more of a Backlund replacement than  Niewendyk replacement I think, although he's got a chance of surprising us and being somewhere inbetween.    And for that, he's more likely a player you win by doing one of those ridiculous $6m long term offers.    We could consider something like $5m / 2 years.   You have to overpay and hope that he either hits his potential or wait for the term to end.     It solves one problem and limits future opportunities.

 

He's good return for a 2nd round pick but it would be better if we actually drafted RHS players occasionally and had a few of these guys in the pipeline.

 

He doesn't solve G and D, he doesn't change the story, and St Louis will likely sign him.

 

But all that said, sure I'd OS him.

[travel_dude]

6 hours ago, conundrumed said:

A $4.1 offer sheet. Only costs a 2nd. Better #s than Kyrou (especially D), RSC, played a big role in their SC, makes us better, hard to play against...what are we waiting for? Honestly can't believe Army has let it go this far, but I'm sure he'll figure it out.

 

It's a tough pill to swallow when we used up all our cap this summer.

Would need to find a new home for Lucic or Dube and take nothing back.

If Dube, we need to have only 12F on the roster and 6D.

 

If the deal was a long term one at $4.1m, it would be a reasonable risk.

Assumng the Flames have done their homework and know a bit about the player.